柯小毛胡言亂語｡

根據 Time for Students (時代新鮮人) 雜誌報導
現在在火星上進行探索任務的探測車 "機會號" 與 "精神號"
已經正常運轉超過一年
而原本的預計壽命不過三個月而已
足足多活了三倍以上
之所以現在還能繼續正常工作
NASA 計畫人員發現關鍵在於
兩輛探測車的太陽能板在經過每晚休眠之後
第二天居然都被擦得乾乾淨淨!
是火星人來幫忙洗車嗎?

茲轉錄全文如下

　　Last December, NASA reported that “something” was cleaning the solar panels of the Mars rover, Opportunity. Hundreds of news stories around the world picked up on the report, and the image of little green men on Mars was playfully revived. The truth behind this Martian carwash is surely less fantastic, but the story of NASA's twin Mars rovers is nothing short of amazing.
　　去年十二月，美國航太總署報導說有「某個東西」清理了「機會號」火星探測車的太陽能面板。全球數以百計的新聞都轉達了這則報導，火星上「綠色小人」的形象又被開玩笑地再度炒熱。這起火星洗車事件背後的真象一定沒那麼古怪，但是美國航太總署雙胞胎火星探測車的故事絕對令人驚歎。

　　For one thing, both of these high-tech robots have lasted far beyond their expected three-month lifespan. Well over a year ago, on January 24, 2004, Opportunity touched down on Mars. Tucked safely inside a giant ball composed of airbags, it bounced 26 times and rolled to the middle of a small crater, in what one scientist called an “interplanetary hole in one.”
　　理由之一：這兩個高科技機器人都已經遠遠超出原本預估的三個月壽命。早在一年多以前，二○○四年一月二十四日機會號就在火星著陸。它安全地塞在一個氣囊做成的大球裡，彈跳二十六次之後滾到一個小隕石坑中間，有位科學家稱之為「星際一桿進洞」。

　　The other rover, Spirit, has been on Mars even longer, having landed three weeks earlier on the opposite side of the planet from Opportunity. On the first anniversary of that landing, NASA's top administrator Sean O'Keefe said, “I never, ever would have imagined that I would have the opportunity to be standing here a year later and say we're ... still on Mars.” Both of the incredible six-wheeled machines were still going strong as this story was written. They are busy grinding away at rock samples and analyzing them with onboard tools.
　　另一部探測車「精神號」在火星上待得更久，比機會號還要早三週就降落在火星的另一邊。在登陸火星一週年當天，航太總署署長尚恩歐基夫說：「我從沒想到我有機會在一年之後還能站在這裡說我們……還在火星上。」這兩部不可思議的六輪機器在本文交稿時都還很有力。它們忙著研磨岩石樣本﹑用車上的工具進行分析。

　　The rovers get their power from solar panels and rechargeable batteries, which could initially provide about 900 watt-hours of electricity per day. The expected gathering of Martian dust on the solar panels has reduced Spirit's available power to around 400 watt-hours. Opportunity experienced a similar drop over the first few months of its mission, but then power levels began showing mysterious increases on some mornings after the rover was woken up from its overnight “sleep.” Recent power levels have risen to around 900 watt-hours again, and a visual inspection of the solar panels (using Opportunity's own attached camera) confirmed that some unknown process had indeed cleaned off the dust. “These exciting and unexplained cleaning events have kept Opportunity in really great shape,” said rover team leader, Jim Erickson.
　　探測車的能源來自太陽能面板與充電式電池，一開始每天大約可提供九百瓦特小時的電力。太陽能面板上預期會聚集的火星塵土已經降低了精神號的可用能源到四百瓦特小時左右。機會號在執行任務的頭幾個月也經歷了類似的能源降低，但在後來有好幾天早晨，探測車從夜間「睡眠」醒來後，能源量卻出現神祕的增長。最近的能源量已經又回升到九百瓦特小時左右，而檢視太陽能面板（使用機會號本身裝設的攝影機）證實有某個未知的程序真的清乾淨了塵土。探測車隊長吉姆艾瑞森表示：「這些令人興奮且無法解釋的清理事件讓機會號處於絕佳狀態。」

　　Popular theories as to how the panels got cleaned include the melting of frost built up through the frigid Martian nights, and “dust devils,” small tornado-like windstorms. Neither of these explanations fits well with what scientists believe about the Martian atmosphere. Most of the scientists involved with the project suspect the dust got shaken off as the rover was climbing crater walls. But this doesn't explain why the cleaning happened when the rover was asleep.
　　面板是如何清理乾淨的？普遍的理論包括是火星寒夜累積的霜雪融化造成，以及像小旋風的風暴「沙塵暴」造成。這兩種解釋都不大能夠符合科學家認定的火星大氣層情況。參與計畫的科學家大都猜測塵土是在探測車攀爬隕石坑壁時震落的。但是這無法解釋為什麼清理工作會發生在探測車休眠時。

　　So far, no one seems willing to admit that secret maintenance by Martian mechanics is the best explanation.
　　目前為止似乎沒有人願意承認，火星技工的祕密維修是最好的解釋。

原來火星上也有好心人呢!